Beverage dispensing faucet



T. A. HUTsELl. 2,113,887

April l2, 1938.

BEVERAGE DISPENSING FAUCET Filed Sept. 19, 1934 fa aa-` 4 l a Vifo w y e f@ v fo 9o 4E. I

. l f FA lll I I8 v 4s' f ,f 44 l ,f

sa l a@ y Patented Apr. 12, 1 938 UNITED f STAT EIS." ",FFIFCE g,

y 4 2,113,887k Y l BEVERAGE-DISPENSING ymooier Thomas A. HutselLeattlcg'WashA y l Application: september 19, 1934, serial Nt. 744,732

l rzclaimQ (01.225s5f. f v

My present invention relates toa method forv the dispensing and measuring of effervescent or gas-charged liquids. A'

` A particular adaptation of my method lends 'f itself particularly well to the dispensing of draft:

beer. Consequently for the sake` of Vcl'earnessv of description I prefer toexplairifmy method as employed'in thedispensing of" beer,A itl willibe l understood; it is believed, that any gas-contain'` )a ing or gas-producing liquid could beV dispensed ina similar manner.

Allbeer contains carbon-dioxide gas in solution. It isa natural product/of the brewing process and constitutes the `lifefof xthe"b'ee'r. if; When', this gas goes out of solution it leaves the beer flat and it soon sours. 'The carbon-dioxide is'kept in solution, normally, by keepingfthebeer at `a reduced temperature or under pressure, or

a combination of both. Further,` underl present yiknown; methods, it is not vpossibleto measure the beer as aliquid or to dispense exact amounts,` asi* the beer is subject to violent agitation and aerartion which forms' excessive amountsof coarse andv unstable foam.

5"' .My method consists of keeping .the beer4 at a'. pressure vsuiiiciently high' to retain'the carbon,

dioxide in .solution thereby.preservingA therrbe'er and" then to measure thei lceer'undernearlyl its' full :initial pressure which will noti 'permit' `thel the measuring chamberand allow thefbeerwto expand, after it becomes nearly static, toa low pressure which liberates some of the included carbon-dioxide which forms foam', Without aerae` )l tion or excessive agitation. This resultsin'foam. of a fine texture.V

The principal object of my present invention,m therefore, is to provide'a method of maintaining" an effervescent beverage or liquid, in: its manui` factured condition and dispensing` they-same:A This purposeY without loss of its gaseouscontent. is obtained by retaining the liquid atfa sufficiente ly high pressure andat a propentempera-turev in jan original container and cooling coils, so as i to prevent loss of the original gases and-,pthroughg ai mechanical dispensing device;` measure-f` and recordy prior to elfervescent expansion,gth.ev

amount of liquid passed.- l'I'heliquidcis' nextlre-v `duced to a knearly static or unagitatedcondition; iland then the pressure is reduced-Ltdallovgvparti of the includedgas to escape and form foam. The agitation, at *the time of expansion, will determine, yother factors being constant, the amount of foam formed, as the more the liquid is agitated the greater will be the` resultant release of gas. The liquid is thus delivered into the retail containers or glasses in .accurately predetermined amounts, with the desired proportion..o'f,1iquid and foam; thus making it possible to deliverv the beverage, orliquidQin a condition to retain thedesired proportion of their original gaseous content.

Other and more. specific objects will be appa-a rent from they following.'description` taken in connection 'with the' accompanying drawing, wherein the figure is anY elevation of my dispensing means, certain parts being `broken away to bette illustrate the construction. V

In carrying out the method of dispensingi liquids, as outlined, I nd it' necessary to provide animproved form-fof dispensingequipment. 0ne

form ,of dispenserV that'hasproven verysatisfactory is disclosed in the'accornpanying` drawing throughout which'like'reference characters indicate. like parts.'` This device consists of the main frame" or .baseZr which may be 4ixedly secured to a counter ,orbar and which in turn is adapt-d ed to support the various partsv of theudevice; Adjustably secured to-frame 2 is a glass or dis- 'pensing receptacle bracketll. -ThisI prefer to bracket I4 that is formed as part of ybase 2'. The.V

head is .held against rotary movement about rguide I2 'by ui'd conductingpipes It and I8 operating in a slot in base 2. vAnyconvenient means may be employed to raise' and'lower head III as, for instance, the toggle link arrangement shown, wherein lever2 has formadas part of `itV the bellA cranklever'ZI :which is'pivotally .supf ported at Y22. Pivotally secured-*to lever ZI, as at -Zdyis a toggle link 26 which in turnvis pivotal-1 ly secured-.at-IB tohead- IIJ. VFollowingthefprin ciples of togglefpressesaa movement-of lever-2d Y so as ,to both form a complete seal for the top of about pivot 22, in an upward direction, Will raise the head I0 upwardly so that it will clear entire- 1y the upper rim of glass 8. When in its depressed position as indicated in Figure 1, however, by having pivot 24 swing past the line joining pivots 22 and 28, a toggle lock is provided, as is common in such mechanisms, so that any upward force on head I0 will only tend to more securely lock the mechinism in position.

Pipe I6 in the accompanyingl drawing is intended to carry a gas under pressure, either air, carbon dioxide or any other suitable gas. This leads into passageway 30 formed within head I0, down toa discharge opening 32. Disposed within this opening is a float valve arrangement consisting of a cork float 33 which is held within chamber 32 by means of a support pin` 34 and carries, embedded in its upper surface aball 36 which, when it engages the end of passage 30effectively seals the same even though c'ork 33 does not assume a perfectly aligned position.

Pipe I8 is intended as the beer supply tube. This connects with passage 38 which, in the present instance, is shown as discharging against the side of glass 8. Now it has been found that the arrangement of the discharge opening tends to regulate the amount of turbulence caused within the discharged liquid. It, therefore, follows that by varying the manner in which this discharge .is made, a direct control on the turbulence of the,

than orifice 44. This provides that it will be the' first to be opened when the valve is pulled out and will be the last to be closed when the valve is shoved in.

The inner surface of head I0 has an annular recess in which a resilient packingas 46 is disposed the glass and, further, to prevent damage to the glass when pressure is placed upon the same. As will be observed in Figure 1 I have provided that head I!) extends down into the glass. This is to provide that a minimum of airspace will remain in the glass when it has been lled with the desired amount of liquid. The purpose ofV this being to prevent the wasting of large amounts of gas under relatively high pressure. l

Method of koperation Y method I find it desirable `to use the customers glass as the receiver for the drawn beer. It has been quite denitely determined that the foam produced on beer is a'function of the turbulence within the beer when the beer is not subject to sufficient pressure to retain the included gas. The pressure, however, in the gas line I6 must be somewhat less than the pressureA of the beer, usually from two to i'lve pounds. tial pressure between the beer and the gas line can be automatically maintained by Various devices now available on the market.

tainer.

This differen- When it is desired to draw a glass of beer the first action must be to enclose the glass B firmly, so as to withstand the full pressure of the beer, as by means of head I0. The gas is then admitted until the full pressure, as provided by the pressure differential, is in the glass. The next operation is to open the beer line I8, so that the beer will flow into the glass against the gas pressure already present. Now it will be apparent, itis believed, that the beer coming in, will, because of its higher pressure, displace the gas pressure in the glass, forcing it back into its original con- This will continue until float 33 closes the gas line, then because of the limited air space in the top of theglass the air thus trapped will be` compressed until the air pressure balances the beer pressure` andV stops any further flow into therglass. In s'ofdoing, however, the full pressure of the gas is on the beer and this must be sufliferential pressure of which forces it into the glass.V

It -naturally follows that the higher the gas pressure in proportion to the beer pressure the slower the iiow of the beer, other factors being equal. If the beer merely balanced the gas pressure there will be no flow. Then as the gas pressure is dropped below the pressure of the beer the differential in pressure is the effective pressure driving the beer into the glass. It further follows that the pressure with which the beer is introduced the greater the turbulence and the greater the tendency to foam. If theV pressure isV maintained above the foaming point however no foam will be formed.

The next principle which is involved is the fact that if the beer is absolutely inert, without turbulence or agitation, the escape of carbon dioxide, even at atmospheric pressure, is relatively slow. At normal room temperatures and with the beer at, say 45 degrees, the beer will retain carbondioxide for periods up to an hour. If, however, the beer is stirred under this condition, or is shaken as a drink is mixed, for instance, a marked degree of foamingY is produced which, within a fairlynarrow range, is more or less proportional to the amount of agitation.` It is this principle that is used in producing the amount` of foam Vdesired under my method. This fact indicates the desirability of using the customers glass as ameasuring chamber.

After the beer has been drawn into the glass,

lstill under pressure, it must be allowed to come to rest to a degree at least. The exact time required for this quieting down of the drawn beer is a matter best determined by experiment with various types of beer. Normally, however, it is a matter of very few seconds. When the beer reaches the point where it is nearly quiet, head I l) is raisedV thus subjecting the beer only to atmospheric pressure, then the amount of turbulence which. remains in the beer at the time it is exposed to atmospheric pressure will determine the amount of foam produced in the customers glass. In dispensing it must be remembered, that the beer should be released to atmospheric pressure before all turbulence stops, otherwise there will be no foam formed without further induced agitation. Beer, so

drawn, is fully charged with carbon-dioxide and is'a y'very satisfactory drink.

This completes the dispensing cycle in which the beer has been maintained under the desired higher pressure while in transit; it is measured as a liquid under pressure just slightly lower than transit pressure; the beer is allowed to come nearly to rest; it is reduced to atmospheric when Vjust suflicient turbulence remains to produce the desired amount of foam and the beer has retained substantially all of the original carbonldioxide either in solution or in the form of foam.V

The foregoing description and the accompanying drawing is believed to clearly disclose a prejferred embodiment of my invention but it will be understood that this disclosure is merely illustrative and that such changes in the invention may be made as are fairly within the scope and spirit of the `following claim.

I-Iaving thus fully described my invention, What Y I claim as new and Vdesire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

The combination of a frame including an upright member having a longitudinal slot therein; a supporting bracket carried by said frame; a dispenser head movably mounted on said frame having a face presented toward said bracket and provided with an annular gasket, and having Y conduits extending therethrough within the area circumscribed by said gasket; a piston valve slidy toward said bracket and away `from the same;V a bearing carried by said frame above said head;

and a stem projecting from said head and slidable through said bearing.

THOMAS VA. IjIU'IfSELL. 

